Snipers. Censorship. Unaccountability.
Indiana University has a free speech crisis — and it’s only getting worse.
Last year, administrators deployed police snipers to oversee peaceful protesters. This year, they fired the director of student media for refusing to censor the campus newspaper.
In between, IU has silenced student groups, suspended faculty critics, canceled art exhibits, and shuttered campus events from every side of the political spectrum. Whether you’re conservative or liberal, pro-Palestinian or pro-Israel, or simply a journalist doing your job, IU’s message is the same: Shut up, or pay the price.
No wonder IU now ranks near the very bottom of ÃÛÖÏãÌÒ’s College Free Speech Rankings — 255 out of the 257 schools surveyed — earning abysmal scores in openness, administrative support, and comfort expressing ideas. In fact, it’s the worst-ranked public school in America. Faculty don’t trust the administration to protect academic freedom. FIREfear speaking their minds. The university is being sued for firing its student newspaper advisor after he stood up for free speech. And the eyes of the nation are watching.
IU’s leadership can fix this — but only if it’s willing to face the facts and have the courage to affirm free expression, no exceptions.
Tell President Pamela Whitten: Stop silencing dissent. End the censorship. Restore trust in Indiana University’s commitment to free expression.
A university that once prided itself on open inquiry has become a national example of what happens when free speech dies. It’s time for IU to change course — before it cements its place at the very bottom.
